The co-authors of the book "Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food" will speak at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12 on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's East Campus.

The lecture will be held in the Hardin Hall auditorium on the 33rd and Holdrege.

The title of the book is the title of the lecture by Pam Ronald and her husband, Raoul Adamchak.

Ronald is a professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center at the University of California, Davis, and serves as director of Grass Genetics at the Joint BioEnergy Institute.

Adamchak is market garden coordinator in the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis, where he teaches organic agriculture and manages the UC Davis student farm, a 5-acre market garden.

"Tomorrow's Table" was selected as one of the best books of 2008 by Seed Magazine and the Library Journal.

In 2012, "Tomorrow's Table" was selected by The New Earth Archive as one of the 25 most powerful and influential books with the power to change the world. Bill Gates calls the book "a fantastic piece of work."

In their book geneticist Ronald and organic farmer Adamchak discuss one of the greatest challenges of our time: how to feed the world's growing population without further destroying the environment.

They'll describe what organic farmers and geneticists are doing to address this challenge.

The book is for consumers, farmers and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and create policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices, Ronald said, adding it also is for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment.

"We are very much looking forward to the Heuermann Lecture by Pam Ronald and Raoul Adamchak," said Ronnie Green, Harlan vice chancellor in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, home of the Heuermann Lectures. "Feeding the world's growing population while sustaining the environment is a huge challenge we face in the coming years."

Ronald's laboratory has genetically engineered rice for resistance to diseases and tolerance to flooding, serious problems for rice crops in Asia and Africa. Her research has been published in Science, Nature and other leading peer-reviewed scientific journals, and has been featured in such publications as the New York Times, Forbes Magazine, the Wall Street Journal and more.

She and her colleagues received the USDA 2008 National Research Initiative Discovery Award for their work on flood-tolerant rice. In 2011, Ronald was selected as one of the 100 most creative people in business by Fast Company Magazine. In 2012, Ronald was awarded the Louis Malassis International Scientific Prize for Agriculture and Food and the Tech Award for innovative use of technology to benefit humanity.

Adamchak has farmed organically for 25 years. He worked for eight years as an organic farm inspector for the California Certified Organic Growers, and has served as president of the growers' board. He also has been a member of the board of the Organic Farming Research Foundation.

Heuermann Lectures are made possible by a gift from B. Keith and Norma Heuermann of Phillips, long-time university supporters with a strong commitment to Nebraska's production agriculture, natural resources, rural areas and people.

The lectures focus on providing and sustaining enough food, natural resources and renewable energy for the world's people, and on securing the sustainability of rural communities where the vital work of producing food and renewable energy occurs. A 3 p.m. reception precedes the lecture.

Heuermann Lectures stream live at http://heuermannlectures.unl.edu, and are archived at the site shortly after the lecture. They are broadcast on NET2 World at a date following the lecture.